Saudi official: Gunmen open fire, wound policeman, 2 Indian nationals in country's east

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia's interior ministry says gunmen shot at a security patrol in the country's predominantly Shiite eastern region, wounding a policeman and two Indian nationals passing by.

Ministry's spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, says the attack took place on Monday evening as the patrol was checking on the security situation in al-Khuwaildiya district in the predominantly Shiite eastern region of al-Qatif. He says the wounded were taken to a hospital.

Last month, five people were killed and nine were wounded in a deadly shooting at a Shiite mosque in al-Qatif. That shooting was claimed by a new branch of the Islamic State group called "Bahrain Province" — a reference to the historic area of Bahrain, which once encompassed the current island-state and parts of eastern Saudi Arabia.